Maggie and Meredith exiting in Grey’s Anatomy season 19 greatly impacted the series. Meredith was one of the few original characters left, and Maggie had been a series regular for a decade. It made sense that their returns would be a big focus of the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale. However, splitting the finale into two hour-long episodes allowed almost every character to have a substantial storyline. Grey’s Anatomy thankfully returned for season 20 since there was a cliffhanger ending, and the new season addressed the season 19 finale.
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Did Teddy Die In The Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 Finale?
Teddy Collapsed At The End Of The Season 19 Finale
| Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 Air Dates | October 6, 2022 – May 18, 2023 |
| Season Finale Ratings (via Show Buzz Daily) | 0.43 / 3.02 million viewers |
Grey’s Anatomy is no stranger to cliffhangers, and the season 19 finale delivered a shocking one. Throughout the episode, Teddy exhibited signs of pain in her tooth, but the combination of her military background and the hospital needing her meant she never got it treated. Instead, Teddy surprisingly collapsed in the final minutes of the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale, and the last seen of her was Yasuda attempting to revive her. Whether she survives when Grey’s Anatomy season 20 premieres was left open-ended, but it wasn’t looking good for the cardiothoracic and trauma surgeon.
Teddy left Grey’s Anatomy once before. She was fired in the season 8 finale but returned full-time in season 15. Since her return, Teddy’s storylines have mainly revolved around her romantic relationships. However, Grey’s Anatomy season 19 allowed her to shine professionally when Teddy became Chief of Surgery at Grey Sloan. It would have been cruel to kill her off just as she was finding her groove again and making an impact at the hospital and even crueler to make viewers wait to learn her fate.
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The Interns Could Be Fired In Grey’s Anatomy Season 20
Three Of The Interns Broke Major Rules In The Season 19 Finale
At the same time that Yasuda attempted to revive Teddy, Lucas and Simone performed surgery on a dying Sam – something that, as residents, they are not supposed to do without an attending’s supervision. This moment isn’t the first time Grey’s Anatomy had a resident perform an unauthorized surgery, as Levi did in the season 18 finale. When his patient died, it traumatized him and caused him to leave the hospital temporarily. Lucas and Simone making the same mistake Levi made was foreshadowed earlier in the episode when Schmitt brought it up with Kwan.
Kwan also broke important hospital protocol when he decided to resuscitate Max, Jules’s roommate and the closest thing she has to family, despite her do-not-resuscitate order. It was a decision that seemed to have some payoff as her condition was improving, but he could still be punished along with Lucas and Simone for breaking the rules. Three of the interns joining the list of characters who have been fired in Grey’s Anatomy would be a surprising twist, but characters have returned after being fired before, and hopefully, that will be the case with this trio as well.
Bailey Won The Catherine Fox Award
This Proves Reproductive Rights Was Season 19’s Biggest Focus
While chaos reigned at the hospital during the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale, the Catherine Fox Awards ceremony had a shocking twist. Nick and Winston traveled to Boston as nominees, with Bailey joining under the guise of presenting, Amelia and Webber as guests, and Catherine as the host. While it seemed like the finale was setting up Winston and Maggie to win, Bailey became the first Catherine Fox Award winner in history who hadn’t been nominated and was winning for a non-surgical achievement.
Kelly McCreary left Grey’s Anatomy as Maggie Pierce after season 19.
The theme of reproductive rights was a huge focus throughout Grey’s Anatomy season 19, as shown through the OB/GYN’s black scrubs, Bailey’s new reproductive health clinic, and Addison and her traveling PRT. Bailey winning the award proved that the issue was the most important focus of Grey’s Anatomy season 19. It was a triumphant moment for Bailey, one of the few original characters from season 1 still standing, and for the reproductive rights movement. It’s unlikely that the story will end there, but hopefully, Bailey will get more funding in Grey’s Anatomy season 20.
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The Symbolism Behind The Dead Bird At Simone’s Wedding
Simone Left Trey At The Altar
The Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale revolves around two significant events: the Catherine Fox Awards and Simone’s wedding to Trey. Grey’s Anatomy has had many weddings in the past, but like the season 3 finale and the season 10 winter finale, this wedding didn’t happen, partly due to a dead bird. Simone’s wedding ended up being a comedy of errors, with the flowers not arriving, Simone’s dress ripping, and her dripping blood on her dress, but the dead bird became the most prominent symbol for her, resulting in her leaving Trey.
While getting ready, Simone talked to Jules and said her mom’s favorite bird was a robin, and when a robin appeared on the day of her first date with Trey, she took it as a sign that he was the one for her. Shortly after, a robin crashed into the window and died, though Jules attempted to hide this from the bride, only for Simone to discover its body while walking down the aisle. The dead bird and conversations with her grandmother and father about her mother’s failed engagement caused Simone to flee.
Multiple Grey’s Anatomy Couples Finally Got Together (Again)
Several Couples Made Their Loves Known
The Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale was a big night for romantics, with multiple couples getting together and confessing their feelings, many of them not for the first time. When Simone leaves her wedding, she immediately goes to the hospital to find Lucas and tell him how she feels. While it wasn’t the first time they hooked up in the season, this time, they made their feelings for each other clear. This also happens with Link and Jo, the culmination of a season-long saga that sees them letting each other know they are in love and have been for years.
In Boston, Meredith tells Nick she loves him after not saying it when she left in the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 premiere. Maggie and Winston also have a reunion and decide to stay married but apart, acknowledging their love along with their differing career aspirations, leaving them in a much better place than they’d been when Maggie moved to Chicago. This finale leaves many couples in a good spot, along with Helm and Yasuda and Jules and Kwan, though Grey’s Anatomy season 20 would have its own challenges and changes as well.
How Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Followed Up On The Season 19 Ending
Teddy Lives, The Interns Keep Their Jobs, & Meredith Grows Closer To Nick
The Grey’s Anatomy season 20 premiere answers many of the previous season’s cliffhanger moments. It all starts with Teddy’s collapse and fears she has died. Luckily for fans of the character, Teddy didn’t die in the season 19 finale. It turns out that she had bacterial endocarditis and needed an emergent valve replacement. Luckily, she pulled through the surgery, and Dr. Winston Ndugu was able to help save her life.
Meg Marinis replaced Krista Vernoff as showrunner starting in Grey’s Anatomy season 20
The interns who broke all the rules in the season 19 finale were reprimanded by Nick when he returned to the hospital after his trip to Boston, but none were fired at the start of the season. However, season 20 dealt with these interns running wild by placing Dr. Bailey in charge of them. After her Catherine Fox Award victory, Dr. Bailey prepared to whip everyone into shape throughout season 20.
